Red flag in Baku: F1 veteran crashes, derails promising result

The Thai driver who'd shown a great deal of promise during the last practice session, placing in P7, has seen his chances in Baku cut short by an untimely run in with the wall with seven minutes having been run in Q1.

As Albon negotiated Turn 1, he took his Williams FW47 too close to the inside wall on entry and tore the front left suspension apart.

The Thai driver then slid across to the other side, leving the sight of his stricken F1 car ahead of the pit entry.

Now Williams looks to his teammate Carlos Sainz to make full use of the Williams' car slippery nature to get a good result on Saturday afternoon.

Oscar Piastri was the sole top driver to be left without setting a lap in Q1 yet. However there are still 11 minutes on the clock. The Aussie will have to pray for no more running neutralisation, though, as more yellow or red flags could pose a threat to his qualifying session.